January 3, 1867

Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891

Autograph letter signed

Title: to E. L. Plumb

Examines the situation in Mexico, but feels it is a conflict that should be avoided. Fears a "distinct Indian War" that will consume a large amount of American military resources, and does not want to also be fighting in Mexico. Feels people should "organize a State of Republican Govt." as their primary focus.

GLC01545.01

October 15, 1864

Porter, David Dixon, 1813-1891

Letter signed

Title: to J.H. Spotts

Written in clerical hand, but signed by Rear Admiral Porter as commander of the North Atlantic Blockade Squadron to Commander Spotts as commander of the USS "Pawtuxet." Says a steamship belonging to the navy left Point Lookout for Hampton Roads on 8 October 1864 in the midst of a gale from the northwest. It is assumed she was driven ashore on the Eastern shore of the Chesapeake or has foundered. Orders Spotts to search for her and to make inquiries with other vessels along the way. Wants to see him before he starts the mission. Commissioned in February 1864 as USS Malvern, she was employed…

GLC01545.03

April 21, 1865

Park, William E., fl. 1855-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: To Mr. Newton

Writes to his cousin about the Union soldiers' reaction to the assassination of Lincoln. States that "the boys are in for exterminating the Rebels altogether". He also writes that there are many men who would re-enlist now that would not have done so a week ago. Expresses his hope that President Andrew Johnson is capable of conducting public affairs and doesn't show any mercy to the traitors. Also appends a short note to his cousin Mollie stating that since the death of Lincoln, he feels like re-enlisting and "help exterminate those accursed Rebels".

GLC01545.05

September 17, 1864

Drayton, Percival, 1812-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to J. C. Palmer

Drayton served as captain of Admiral David Farragut's flagship, the sloop of war "Hartford," and also as fleet captain of the West Gulf Blockade Squadron. Tells Palmer, the fleet surgeon on board the "Pensacola," that he sent a box and small package by the "Sebago" for Confederate Admiral Franklin Buchanan. Wants Palmer to ask Buchanan when the 15 inch shot that almost penetrated the port side of the CSS "Tennessee" during the Battle of Mobile Bay in August 1864 was delivered. Both Buchanan and the "Tennessee" were captured during the battle -- Buchanan was wounded. Wants to know if anything…

GLC01545.07

6 November 1863

Yeatman, James E., 1818-1901

Broadside

Title: [Appeal from the Western Sanitary Commission to President Abraham Lincoln regarding the condition of freedpeople]

The Western Sanitary Commission informs President Lincoln that many freed enslaved people in the Mississippi Valley have no provisions, clothing, or bedding, and little cooking supplies or knowledge as to using such. States that "To meet the present emergency and to prevent or lessen the sufferings of the coming winter and spring, we offer our humble but active services, asking no reward of any kind, but the opportunity and encouragement to work." Reports that the Commission's efforts would be a work of philanthropy and patriotism, "for it would remove an increasing reproach against the…

GLC01545.11

August 20, 1861

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Mr. Laighton

Regrets that he is unable to attend a meeting held at Allston Hall the following Friday, in remembrance of Theodore Parker. Emerson claims, "I do not know that I could add any facts of interest to the recollections of the occasion. Yet Theodore Parkers mind was so lavishly given to the public welfare, that I can easily see how all the new startling events in our politics may associate themselves with his memory. In dark days & amidst sinking men we miss his strength the more, and yet we cannot doubt his relief & joy in the present pronounced state of the Republic, over the so-…

GLC01549

September 4, 1829

Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757-1834

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Andre Paccard

Discusses being prevented by family and political obligations from visiting Chalons-sur-Saone. Mentions liberty. Paccard represented the citizens of Chalons-sur-Saone.

GLC01563

May 3, 1861

Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870

Letter signed

Title: to Philip St. George Cocke

Signed two weeks after Lee left the service of the U.S. Army.

GLC01564

May 10, 1861

Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870

Letter signed

Title: to Philip St. George Cocke

Signed three weeks after leaving the service of the U.S. Army.

GLC01565

July 13, 1863

Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870

Letter signed

Title: to John Daniel Imboden

Lee outlines his plans for the safe retreat of the Army of Northern Virginia 10 days after their defeat at the Battle of Gettysburg. He gives instructions to Brigadier General Imboden to cross the Potamac and proceed to Cherry Creek to ascertain whether or not the enemy troops are waiting. He instructs him to do all in his power to repress the advances of the enemy and defend the Confederate trains nearby so the army could retreat. Imboden did as he was told and Lee safely crossed the Potomac River the same night this letter was written. He was able to retreat because Union General George…

GLC01566

March 8, 1860

Bates, Edward, 1793-1869

Letter signed

Title: to Joseph Barrett

Written before the Republican Party Convention. Responds to a note from Barrett, fielding questions on legal matters and slavery. Argues that the United States should not extend slavery into free territories. Attests that in the Dred Scott case, Scott "being a negro could not be a citizen of Missouri therefore could not bring the actions in the Federal Court." Argues that the Constitution does not carry slavery into the Territories. Regarding a homestead bill, remarks that public lands "ought to be as little as possible, the subject of trade & speculation... I think it would be a…

GLC01567

December 20, 1856

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry E. Rees

Senator Sumner replies to a letter from Rees. Claims that unless slavery is checked, "the liberty of white as well as black in our country will become a name only."

GLC01574.02

July 5, 1699

Penn, William, 1644-1718

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Joseph Pike

Writes about preparations for his last trip to America. Accompanied by a separate leaf signed "M. Jacob" stating that the letter is "to my great great great grandfather Joseph Pike." A merchant in Cork, Ireland, Pike was an old Quaker friend.

GLC01577

February 7, 1819

Scott, Winfield, 1786-1866

Autograph letter signed

Title: to unknown

Regarding his public quarrel with General Andrew Jackson. Feels that Jackson is trying to make him look bad in any way possible, but is not too concerned. Addressed to "Major," from whom he had received correspondence. Surname of recipient may be "Mercer," as Scott mentions that he looks forward to seeing the recipient and Mrs. Mercer.

GLC01581

March 16, 1863

Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Stephen Augustus Hurlbut

Writes about his surprise that General Hurlbut's nomination is being opposed in the Senate. Castigates the press, "I have been foolish to excite the animosity of the Newspaper fraternity ... but this class of men are so supercilious that whenever I come in contact with them I feel a natural repugnance which they are smart enough to see." Informs that he has been summoned to Young Point to meet General Ulysses S. Grant's boat. States he will leave tomorrow but cannot mention the exact route. Informs that the original plan to take Vicksburg, which he still feels is best, was to "form the…

GLC01582

circa spring 1851

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Dr. Stone

Writes from "Woodside Cottage." Says she just received his letter and hopes to see him in Boston next week. Asks him "to make no public mention if you have not, of the Uncle Tom project till I have seen you. Don't mention it at any rate till then." Stowe began writing "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in early 1851. The recipient may be Rev. Thomas Treadwell Stone (1801-1895), a Unitarian minister, writer, Transcendentalist, and abolitionist from Massachusetts.

GLC01584.01

March 20, 1852

Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

On its first day of publication in 1852, Stowe sends a copy [not present] of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" to Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. Slavery had been abolished throughout the British Empire in 1833, and Stowe holds Britain up as a model for Americans. Written mostly in the third person. Stowe had consulted Horace Mann several days before writing this letter, asking for his advice as to how best to contact Prince Albert and other British noteworthies. Evidently, Mann's advice had proved useful: Despite the "republican simplicity" of this letter to the Royal Consort, Prince Albert…

GLC01585

28 September 1787

Warren, Mercy Otis, 1728-1814

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Catharine Macaulay

Written by Warren three days after the publication of the Constitution. She writes "[a]lmost every one whom I have yet seen reads with attention, holds the page with solemnity, & silently wraps up his opinion within his own breast...." (Not dated 1784.) She mentions mixed reactions to signing of the Constitution.

GLC01800.03

1850

Broadside

Title: Read and ponder the Fugitive Slave Law!

A large anti-Whig broadside, attacking Samuel A. Elliott of Boston, and re-printing the Fugitive Slave law. Emphasis added with capital letters in some sections. Declares that the law is against the Constitution, habeas corpus and Christianity. States that the law, "...tramples on the Constitution, by its denial of the sacred rights of Trial by Jury, Habeas Corpus, and Appeal..." Appeals to the public, "Freemen of Massachusetts, Remember, that Samuel A. Elliott of Boston, voted for this law, that Millard Fillmore, our Whig President approved it..." Contains three columns, a large banner…

GLC01862

December 1857

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Autograph manuscript

Title: "House divided" speech fragment re: slavery, Dred Scott, Kansas

A single page beginning "Why Kansas is neither the whole, nor a tithe of the real question." Written before the debates with Stephen A. Douglas, apparently in response to that Senator's Dec. 9, 1857 speech in opposition to Buchanan's State of the Union address (as suggested by Don Fehrenbacher, "House Divided," 89 ff.). Nicolay and Hay date the metaphor from Oct. 1858 while Basler assigns it to May 1858. Unpublished and unrecorded. Current dating is based upon Don E. Fehrenbacher's hypothesis that this speech responds to Stephen A. Douglas's speech in the Senate of 1857 Dec. 9 (Prelude to…

GLC02533

18 January 1863

Southgate, William Wallace, 1834-1896

Autograph letter signed

Title: to R. W. Southgate

Written by a soldier in the 12th Vermont Militia. Argues that soldiers generally oppose the emancipation of enslaved people. Mentions James Ewell Brown [Jeb] Stuart's Cavalry charge upon them but says it did not turn into anything as they were rerouted. Envelope dimensions 6.5 x 10.8 cm. Graphic language warning: Includes expletive racial slurs when referring to Black people.

GLC02617

September 1, 1864

Ingalls, Rufus, 1818-1893

Letter

Title: to Montgomery C. Meigs

Copy of GLC02649.17 with slight textual variations. Ingalls, Brigadier General and Chief Quartermaster of the Armies operating against Richmond, writes to Major General Meigs, U.S. Army Quartermaster General, to add to his annual report a commendation for the Medical Department and hospital system under Dr. Thomas A. McParlin.

GLC02649.20

18 August 1861

Hopkins, David, fl. 1861

Autograph letter signed

Title: to my dear brother and sister

Hopkins, a sailor on board a Union ship, replies to a letter from his brother and sister [N. N. and Lacey Hopkins?], of Ashtabula County, Ohio. Discusses problems with the mail. Notes that he feels better than he has in years, despite a persistent cough. Offers his views on the war, declaring that "there are many wrongs to be righted besides the one done to the negro race." Attests that sailors are in worse condition than the enslaved people of the south. Doesn't believe slavery is the underlying cause of the war. Mentions a statement made by Henry A. Wise (Governor of Virginia 1856-…

GLC03043

7 September 1791

Davis, Ignatious, 1759-1828

Broadside

Title: Thirty Dollars Reward

Printed by John Winter of Frederick-Town (now known as Frederick), Maryland. Broadside which announces Ignatious Davis's offer of a 30 dollar reward for Arch, an enslaved man seeking refuge. He is described as "a handsome Negro Lad ... About twenty years of age ... of yellow complexion, talks sensible and artful, but if close examined is apt to tremble." Says he is undersized, active, and has small legs. Also has a ridge or scar on the back of his neck. Describes the clothing he was wearing when he absconded on 22 August 1791. Says he will pay the full reward if Arch is found to be over 60…

GLC03157

16 January 1863

Lewis, Amos, 1785-1876

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Seth Lewis

Lewis writes an eloquent letter to his nephew Seth, in Marshall, Michigan. Comments on the Civil War, his good health, and his ability to make a good living despite "the high prices of all we have to buy and the low rates of what little we have to part with." Discusses family, noting that of three relatives in the army, none have been harmed. His son, Eber, is due to visit, and his daughter, Esther, is a matron in the Springfield, Missouri hospital. Writes again 21 January, noting that Eber arrived. Requests a copy of the newspaper, "The Statesman," if Seth can afford it. Relates that…

GLC03229.01